Travel distances causing patients to reject offers for treatment
Travel distance is having a significant effect on the number of patients accepting offers to have their elective surgical procedures carried out in private hospitals or HSE locations outside of Co Galway.
To address the ever-growing waiting lists for treatment in Galway, the HSE enlists the help of both private hospitals and HSE-run health centres across the country.
According to information at a meeting of the HSE’s Regional Health Forum West, 242 surgical procedures at Galway University Hospital (GUH) were offered to patients at private hospitals in the county in 2023, with 201 accepting the offer.
Over at Portiuncula, the number of patients accepting surgical procedures outsourced to either private hospitals or clinics in Galway and HSE health centres nationwide is far lower than at GUH.
Read the story in full in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald, on sale in shops or buy our digital edition here